Happy? Memorial Day Wkend. I've just completed Utah's mandatory education module (it wouldn't let me print out a certificate, darn) and I encourage all AED folks to do the same. The link's in this post. FUCKING APPALLING.
If I was unfortunate enough to be young, pregnant and from Utah without familial or community support, not only would this module freak me out and make a painful decision more frightening, it might well terrify me enough to just have the damn kid and give it up for adoption (I learned what a good thing that would be in the module).
When I think back decades and decades to my own abortions in D.C., I could just fucking weep over the calm and caring way all of us were looked after, the absence of drama, the shared and soothed fears. What would I have done if I'd had to view pictures of a 12 wk-old embryo (oops, wrong, the module said at that stage the little armed and legged creature is a fetus), listen to someone repeatedly use the word DEAD and consider all the magnanimous support the local govt would give me if only I walked out of the clinic and instead chose to give birth (it would even go after the daddy for child support, thank you!). I don't know why I'm being playful, maybe to defend myself against feeling the true aggressive harm that awaits young, innocent, unsuspecting Utah women.
IF YOU ARE IN OHIO - Please read David Pepper’s substack regarding the bills to get Biden on the ballot & De Wine’s proclamation, particularly the bill that fast tracks cases to OH (conservative) Supreme Court, which can impact reproductive rights as well as other citizen led initiatives in the future. It’s not “just” about foreign money as LaRose has claimed (while he ignores U.S. dark money btw)
FU Louisiana. We use Misoprostol to induce labor and prevent/treat postpartum hemorrhage after delivery. Now we won't be able to get it quick enough in an emergent situation and more women will die!
FU Texas and Skop. I can not believe that this person was appointed to a maternal mortality committee. I guess they don't want accurate statistics about pregnancy related deaths.
As someone who spent most of my life in Maryland and experienced Larry Hogan first hand, I can say that this “pro-choice” pivot is completely disingenuous. I’m sure he still has presidential aspirations and if he became senator he would just go with what the GOP wants. Unfortunately a lot of moderate white voters in Maryland inexplicably love him. That race is going to be tight and it makes me want to puke. He could do a lot of damage. On a different topic, I find myself really worn out by the sheer extent of the anti-choice efforts to the point that I feel almost helpless and numb and I need to figure out a way not to despair. And it also feels like only the really “flashy” “charged” bits of news make it to the mainstream media. That Utah quiz is disgusting. Anyway, I’m rambling. Thanks so much for your regular updates, Jessica. You’re a warrior.
Every day I’m grateful Jessica pulls all of this together. There’s no way any of us would be able to have a national-state-local picture of the anti-abortion landscape without her heroic efforts.
—We’re truly living in the upside-down world when a woman OB-GYN willingly works against the very women she should be providing care to. (Skop)
—What can we do to keep from getting numb to the constant onslaught of horrible news? Round up your friends, take on a task, and stay focused. I love Zach’s suggestion that blue states should be going through their laws carefully: he suggests preserving the right to sterilization. Write a letter to your rep and tell them what your experience was.
—The 2nd anniversary of Dobbs is June 24—have you made your protest signs yet?
I wrote an article, Scarlet Letter of Shame: "A" For Abortion for HuffPost back in January, 2018. And I do mention pitchforks.
"Empowered by the election of anti-abortion president-elect Donald Trump, states are pushing restrictive abortion legislation that is so ruthless, it's beginning to take on the tenor of an angry mob with pitchforks."
I originally missed the link to an article discussing the Utah quiz. I also completed the quiz. There’s a certificate that must be printed or saved with date & time stamp & it requires a signature. The 72 hour waiting period won’t start until this is completed, but as the article states, the wait to get in to see Planned Parenthood is much longer. The fact that the sight says “the module” does not retain info provided seems … carefully worded.
Is there any box to check that says, "I certify that I took this stupid quiz myself and nobody helped me?" It's too bad there isn't a way for some women to take the quiz for the women who need care. So they don't have to be traumatized. I would volunteer to do that.
Someone can take the “quiz” (aka monitoring) for someone else. I was thinking the same thing as I filled it out. But the person who needs care is supposed to sign it. I see a bright future for fake IDs, cheap wigs, cash, etc. servicing some of the more cunning. Others will ignorantly use their names and end up in a database forever.
- I didn't realize abortion was still legal at all in Utah?
- I hope Skop is against all medical treatment for all people since 'life doesn't always give us what we want'
- Normalization happens because the media has decided it will always meet Republicans halfway no matter how extreme they are, and Republicans know this
- Regardless of what the official RNC platform is (they didn't have one last time), there are enough policy documents like Project 2025 that Democrats need to run on what's in them. Democratic messaging is still too timid, on everything.
- We need to keep taking about every woman who has been killed, maimed, or tortured by these laws. Every time they pass a new one (as in Louisiana) the numbers are sure to increase. We need the names and stories, all of them. They're counting on the silence.
It's really bad that I saw the Utah module/quiz and went "oh, yeah, that sounds a lot like what I had to go through when I wanted to get sterilized in Maryland through Tricare".
Basically, I was 25ish and wanted to get sterilized because no sane entity would want to enter the world through MY poison womb. An OB at Walter Reed Navy Medical Center said in order to get sterilized I had to take a class. Turns out it was in the only room of the giant hospital complex that had no AC and I had to flee the class and lay on the cold hallway floor in order to not pass out. For some reason that really alarmed the nurses so instead of letting me go back in there and get the stupid shit over with, I was forced to go to the ER instead. Since I didn't finish the stupid class I wasn't able to get sterilized so that (and my endometriosis diagnosis) was delayed 10 years.
Whomever thinks putting up these roadblocks is helping anyone- seriously go fuck yourself.
Wow I’m sorry you were subjected to that. It doesn’t surprise me. I recall paperwork in an Obgyn office inquiring if you the patient needed surgery/procedure your spouse needed to sign. Somehow I indirectly found out that included sterilization AND if you were single forget it. This was in the early 80’s. Oh wait that sounds like today’s landscape 😡
I told my OBGYN at a base clinic I wanted to get my tubes tied, around age 40 and she told me she didn’t believe me. (About 20 years ago) I had children. I wonder if military base doctors will be more open these days.
That's something we rarely talk about; the right to reproductive health care also must include the right to sterilization, without these obstacles. At the very least now is the time for every blue state to be going through its laws with a fine toothed comb and getting all the crap out.
If it wasn't happening, I would not believe it!
Where is the compassion?
Where are the people who acknowledge biology? Real life?
We are falling, as a nation, into an abyss of ignorance and insanity.
Happy? Memorial Day Wkend. I've just completed Utah's mandatory education module (it wouldn't let me print out a certificate, darn) and I encourage all AED folks to do the same. The link's in this post. FUCKING APPALLING.
If I was unfortunate enough to be young, pregnant and from Utah without familial or community support, not only would this module freak me out and make a painful decision more frightening, it might well terrify me enough to just have the damn kid and give it up for adoption (I learned what a good thing that would be in the module).
When I think back decades and decades to my own abortions in D.C., I could just fucking weep over the calm and caring way all of us were looked after, the absence of drama, the shared and soothed fears. What would I have done if I'd had to view pictures of a 12 wk-old embryo (oops, wrong, the module said at that stage the little armed and legged creature is a fetus), listen to someone repeatedly use the word DEAD and consider all the magnanimous support the local govt would give me if only I walked out of the clinic and instead chose to give birth (it would even go after the daddy for child support, thank you!). I don't know why I'm being playful, maybe to defend myself against feeling the true aggressive harm that awaits young, innocent, unsuspecting Utah women.
So when you are in the middle of a miscarriage in the emergency room do they still have to answer the questions? Why would anyone tell the truth?
I’m wondering if the Louisiana law is preempted. Can LA override the FDA?
IF YOU ARE IN OHIO - Please read David Pepper’s substack regarding the bills to get Biden on the ballot & De Wine’s proclamation, particularly the bill that fast tracks cases to OH (conservative) Supreme Court, which can impact reproductive rights as well as other citizen led initiatives in the future. It’s not “just” about foreign money as LaRose has claimed (while he ignores U.S. dark money btw)
FU Louisiana. We use Misoprostol to induce labor and prevent/treat postpartum hemorrhage after delivery. Now we won't be able to get it quick enough in an emergent situation and more women will die!
FU Texas and Skop. I can not believe that this person was appointed to a maternal mortality committee. I guess they don't want accurate statistics about pregnancy related deaths.
There seems to be a connection between Satan and one of the two parties in this controversy.
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2024/05/23/why-the-satanic-panic-happened-when-it-did/
As someone who spent most of my life in Maryland and experienced Larry Hogan first hand, I can say that this “pro-choice” pivot is completely disingenuous. I’m sure he still has presidential aspirations and if he became senator he would just go with what the GOP wants. Unfortunately a lot of moderate white voters in Maryland inexplicably love him. That race is going to be tight and it makes me want to puke. He could do a lot of damage. On a different topic, I find myself really worn out by the sheer extent of the anti-choice efforts to the point that I feel almost helpless and numb and I need to figure out a way not to despair. And it also feels like only the really “flashy” “charged” bits of news make it to the mainstream media. That Utah quiz is disgusting. Anyway, I’m rambling. Thanks so much for your regular updates, Jessica. You’re a warrior.
Every day I’m grateful Jessica pulls all of this together. There’s no way any of us would be able to have a national-state-local picture of the anti-abortion landscape without her heroic efforts.
—We’re truly living in the upside-down world when a woman OB-GYN willingly works against the very women she should be providing care to. (Skop)
—What can we do to keep from getting numb to the constant onslaught of horrible news? Round up your friends, take on a task, and stay focused. I love Zach’s suggestion that blue states should be going through their laws carefully: he suggests preserving the right to sterilization. Write a letter to your rep and tell them what your experience was.
—The 2nd anniversary of Dobbs is June 24—have you made your protest signs yet?
I'm signed up! Here's a link to look for a March in your city.
https://action.womensmarch.com/local
It's all just slut shaming on its way to stoning, isn't it?
If the red baboons get their way, yes.
I wrote an article, Scarlet Letter of Shame: "A" For Abortion for HuffPost back in January, 2018. And I do mention pitchforks.
"Empowered by the election of anti-abortion president-elect Donald Trump, states are pushing restrictive abortion legislation that is so ruthless, it's beginning to take on the tenor of an angry mob with pitchforks."
Actually, it was originally written in January 2017, (before Trump's inauguration) and updated in January 2018.
I originally missed the link to an article discussing the Utah quiz. I also completed the quiz. There’s a certificate that must be printed or saved with date & time stamp & it requires a signature. The 72 hour waiting period won’t start until this is completed, but as the article states, the wait to get in to see Planned Parenthood is much longer. The fact that the sight says “the module” does not retain info provided seems … carefully worded.
Is there any box to check that says, "I certify that I took this stupid quiz myself and nobody helped me?" It's too bad there isn't a way for some women to take the quiz for the women who need care. So they don't have to be traumatized. I would volunteer to do that.
Someone can take the “quiz” (aka monitoring) for someone else. I was thinking the same thing as I filled it out. But the person who needs care is supposed to sign it. I see a bright future for fake IDs, cheap wigs, cash, etc. servicing some of the more cunning. Others will ignorantly use their names and end up in a database forever.
- I didn't realize abortion was still legal at all in Utah?
- I hope Skop is against all medical treatment for all people since 'life doesn't always give us what we want'
- Normalization happens because the media has decided it will always meet Republicans halfway no matter how extreme they are, and Republicans know this
- Regardless of what the official RNC platform is (they didn't have one last time), there are enough policy documents like Project 2025 that Democrats need to run on what's in them. Democratic messaging is still too timid, on everything.
- We need to keep taking about every woman who has been killed, maimed, or tortured by these laws. Every time they pass a new one (as in Louisiana) the numbers are sure to increase. We need the names and stories, all of them. They're counting on the silence.
Well said Zach!! So glad your part of this conversation 🥰 and community.
So much of this is Orwelliian. I'm sure the goal of the anti-choicers is to take away your freedoms and hope you get used to not being free.
It's really bad that I saw the Utah module/quiz and went "oh, yeah, that sounds a lot like what I had to go through when I wanted to get sterilized in Maryland through Tricare".
Basically, I was 25ish and wanted to get sterilized because no sane entity would want to enter the world through MY poison womb. An OB at Walter Reed Navy Medical Center said in order to get sterilized I had to take a class. Turns out it was in the only room of the giant hospital complex that had no AC and I had to flee the class and lay on the cold hallway floor in order to not pass out. For some reason that really alarmed the nurses so instead of letting me go back in there and get the stupid shit over with, I was forced to go to the ER instead. Since I didn't finish the stupid class I wasn't able to get sterilized so that (and my endometriosis diagnosis) was delayed 10 years.
Whomever thinks putting up these roadblocks is helping anyone- seriously go fuck yourself.
Wow I’m sorry you were subjected to that. It doesn’t surprise me. I recall paperwork in an Obgyn office inquiring if you the patient needed surgery/procedure your spouse needed to sign. Somehow I indirectly found out that included sterilization AND if you were single forget it. This was in the early 80’s. Oh wait that sounds like today’s landscape 😡
I told my OBGYN at a base clinic I wanted to get my tubes tied, around age 40 and she told me she didn’t believe me. (About 20 years ago) I had children. I wonder if military base doctors will be more open these days.
Probably dependson where, the fundies run the AFB in Colorado Springs so I wouldn't think they are very open.
That's something we rarely talk about; the right to reproductive health care also must include the right to sterilization, without these obstacles. At the very least now is the time for every blue state to be going through its laws with a fine toothed comb and getting all the crap out.
Why aren't ED meds controlled substances?
Because… men are overly represented in every higher up position.
"The almighty male penis shall never be regulated " Every fundamentalistic ever.
ED meds don’t “kill babies” they help make more babies! Especially white babies! Making billions of babies is the goal!
Well, until they’re born.
Then they’re no good.
*Especially once they can talk*.
Ugh! Then those talking mouth breathers might have diverging opinions — and that’s NOT OK.
So we have to stop those people or fly to Mars.
Repeat.
/s
Hate to say it, but it's men - maniacal, erectile-deprived nut-jobs.
And their helper self-loathing women.